The sugarcane farmers in Maharashtra have demanded a share in the earnings from ethanol made from the diversion of sugar. Besides, they have said that the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) of sugarcane should be increased to Rs 3,250 per tonne on a 10.25 per cent recovery basis. This price should exclude the harvesting and transportation (H&T) costs of sugarcane. The Union Government has fixed the FRP of sugarcane at Rs 305 per quintal for the current sugar season (SS 2022-23). In order to prevent the losses suffered by farmers on account of fraud in the weighing of sugarcane, all sugar mills and procurement centres need to be controlled by a central system through the Internet. Raju Shetty, president of Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS) and former parliamentarian, said these things in an interview with Rural Voice. SSS staged a massive protest at the Sugar Commissioner’s office in Pune on November 7 for these demands in which thousands of cane farmers participated.
Raju Shetty said, “We have submitted our demands to the Sugar Commissioner in this regard.” He said that the formula to fix FRP should be changed because earlier sugar was not diverted for the preparation of ethanol. While the ethanol prepared by reducing 1 per cent of sugar fetches the sugar mills an earning of about Rs 1,200, these mills pay to the farmers only Rs 297 per tonne in lieu of 1 per cent sugar recovery. “We want a greater share in this. So, it’s time the formula to fix FRP was changed. I am also going to meet the CACP (Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices) Chairman in this regard.”
Large frauds are committed in weight measurement during cane supply, Shetty said to Rural Voice. “We want the weighing of sugarcane to be digitized. Petroleum companies have centralized thousands of petrol pumps through software. If it is possible there, it is also possible to centralize the sugarcane weight measurement in the 200 sugar mills of Maharashtra on the same lines. Its control should rest with the Sugar Commissioner’s Office. If this happens, any sort of tampering by mills will be detected.”
Shetty says, “We do not accept the state government’s decision to pay the FRP in two instalments. FRP is a law of the central government and the state government cannot bring about a change in its procedure. We have gone to the Bombay High Court in protest against this.” He said that about 40 sugar mills had agreed to pay the entire FRP in one go. “And so, we hope that the remaining sugar mills will also agree to pay the entire amount in one go.”
The Maharashtra Government has decided that cane farmers would be paid, as the first instalment of the FRP on a 10.25 per cent sugar recovery basis, after deducting the H&T costs from Rs 3,050 per tonne. Later, the remaining FRP amount will be paid at the end of the season. Raju Shetty said that this was what the SSS was protesting. The next hearing on the SSS petition filed against the government’s decision will take place on November 14.
In the last sugar season (SS 2021-22), Maharashtra has once again become the largest producer of sugar in the country after five years, overtaking Uttar Pradesh. In the sugar season that ended on September 30 (October 2021 to September 2022), sugar production in Maharashtra stood at 137.30 lakh tonnes (lt). It is expected to cross 150 lt in the current sugar season (2022-23). In Uttar Pradesh, on the other hand, sugar production stood at 102.50 lt in the last season and is estimated to remain at 90-100 lt in the current season.